Useless Ambitions
by Cammie Fujisaki
Summary: Sequel to "You Have My Soul." Almost everyone he loved had been killed in a matter of days, killed by someone they had always thought was a friend, and now he was the only one left. And he would do anything to get them back, even at the cost of his own life.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: It's back everybody! This is the official sequel to the story "You Have My Soul." And yes, I highly recommend that you read that before reading this, but I guess you don't need to if you don't want to.**

**Rated T for violence/gore, horror elements, language.**

**This story features Rimahiko, Kutau, Kaiya, Amuto, and a fifth couple you'll probably know if you read the first story. (No spoilers here).**

**If you have read YHMS some parts of this may seem a bit repetitive, but bare with me, they won't last long.**

~oOo~

It wasn't fair, was it?

After everything that had happened, everything they had gone through, their end was _now_? How was this fair at all?! And through a thing as simple as a car crash….

No, it was too much too bare; he was going to go insane.

He tore his eyes away from the scene in front of him, unable to take it anymore. It was all just so very wrong.

He turned to face the sky, tears dripping from his eyes as he tried to drown out the sirens in the distance, the screams of people who probably didn't even care. And he pleaded, he begged to nobody in particular, for a second chance. "I'll do anything to fix this, anything at all!"

It was too much. They were all gone now; nobody was left. And he was useless, helplessly watching it all happen. And maybe he had caused some of this himself, maybe he was partially to blame.

No, he wouldn't settle for this. He would do whatever it took to get them back, no matter what the cost was.

No matter what.

"Anything, you say?" A sudden voice caused him to spin around, trying to find who was speaking to him.

It only took him a moment to figure out who was talking to him. And somehow he knew, maybe because of how out of place the woman looked, that she _could _help him fix everything. "Yes, anything!"

The woman smiled, a smile that honestly did seem to be filled with genuine kindness, or at least he thought so. "Wonderful."

~oOo~

It was all a blur. He could see everything passing by him, everything they had gone through. It was overwhelming, and a bit nauseating. He could feel the world spinning around him, he could see the colors of the world flashing by, and it made him feel like throwing up. Instead of vomiting, which he really thought would be unwise given the current situation, he just closed his eyes and let it take him.

And even though his eyes were closed he could feel everything moving around him, everything changing. Who knows what would happen when it all stopped; would things end up better, or worse?

No, no, it could never end up worse. There was no way possible for it to end up worse.

With this in mind he allowed himself to relax; everything would end up fine.

He would not allow it to end in tragedy this time.

~oOo~

"I hate this."

A small murmur left the lips of Rima as she sat on the couch, staring at the front door nervously, her hands wringing as the squirmed with anxiety.

Frankly put, Rima did not like being left home alone; the thought that she was by herself, nobody to look out for her, was just incredibly unsettling. She didn't really expect anything to happen when she was home alone (because really, why would something happen with such convenient timing?) but the thought that something _could _ happen and nobody would be there to help her was what terrified her the most.

"Calm down Rima, there's nothing to be so nervous about!" Kusukusu laughed cheerfully, obviously not sharing in her bearer's worries. Rima shot her an annoyed sort of look (the one with the small glare and wrinkled nose that was typically saved for Nagihiko).

"Yeah, I know, but that girl was kidnapped from her home last week and…" Rima broke off, biting her lip hesitantly as she glanced back at the front door.

Kusukusu let out a small "oh," to signal her revelation. "It's bringing up bad memories, isn't it?"

As much as Rima would hate to admit it, Kusukusu was right; being alone after having heard all the news stories about the girl made her remember the darkest time of her past. And even though it was illogical (after all, there were millions of people in Tokyo) she couldn't help but imagine that the girl's kidnapper would come for her next.

"Maybe just a little," Rima muttered, sinking into the couch as she drew her knees up to her chest. Kusukusu gave her a sad look, before a smile lit up her face.

"Hey, why don't you call Nagi? He's going to be here with the rest of your friends in a little bit anyway, so I'm sure he'd come over now!"

Rima scoffed. "I don't need him. I can take care of myself just fine. And I could only imagine what he'd say, 'oh, is Rima-chan afraid of ghosts? Does she think a monster's going to pop out of her closet?' Like I'd want to deal with _that_."

"I don't know Rima, I don't think Nagi would tease you if he knew how scared you were," Kusukusu muttered, unconvinced of Rima's claims.

"Scared? Who in the world is scared? I'm not scared!" Rima said loudly, a determined look on her face.

A scraping sound heard from outside the nearby window made Rima's expression drop as her eyes widened and her mouth opened. She let out a small squeak, her face considerably paler than usual, and Kusukusu raised her eyebrows. "What were you saying?"

"It's nothing!" Rima exclaimed, her face quickly turning red as her voice jumped an octave. As Kusukusu gave her a cynical look she cleared her throat."It's just a tree's branch scraping against the window. Nothing else. I'll even go look at it."

It was like after watching a horror movie, Rima figured. You would be terrified to be alone in the dark, afraid that all of a sudden something would grab you and murder you ruthlessly, but just like in that situation you would turn on the light (or in this case, look out the window) and see that nothing was there.

Rima unlatched the window and stuck her head out of it. Just like she expected, nothing was there; a few trees swaying back and forth in the breeze as dead leaves flew past them, carried by the cold wind. Rima brushed her hair out from her eyes, relieved; she was just being paranoid again.

She glanced down as she went to bring her head back inside and the sight in front of her made her freeze.

There was something there, something that seemed somewhat human but could obviously not be. The skin was much too pale, the eyes just dark holes in the head, and the blood... so much blood flowing down it's face. Starting from it's forehead and painting across the cheeks of the face, oozing from the dark holes called eyes and from the cruel smirk string up at her.

Rima's heart pounded as she looked into the face of the monster, and despite herself she couldn't move. She was useless to do anything but stare at the monster underneath her.

After a moment she came to her senses. Screaming as she pulled her head back in through the window, she slammed it shut, the glass rattling as it was pushed back into place. Her fingers shaking desperately, she fumbled for a moment as she tried to latch the window before scurrying backwards in a desperate attempt to get away, horrified that the monster's face would suddenly press itself against the glass.

"Oh god, oh god," Rima whispered, her voice coming out weak and scratchy. She glanced uncertainly at Kusukusu, who was giving her an equally horrified look, before she turned and stumbled to the couch.

She dropped to her knees as she grabbed her phone. Her hands shaking wildly as she flipped the phone open, she pressed the three button and held the phone up to her ear as she stared at the window. Horrified that at any moment the glass would shatter and the monster would come flying into the room, each ring of the phone sent her heart racing. What if he didn't pick up, what if he'd left his phone somewhere, what if he wouldn't come….

During a break between two of the long and painful rings Rima heard a slight thumping sound from the ceiling and craned her neck to look above. She could barely breathe, as she and Kusukusu stared at the ceiling.

_It was in the house._

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ringing stopped and a boy's voice was heard. "Hello?"

"Nagihiko," Rima whispered, her voice wavering uncontrollably as the creak of a door was heard in the distance, "I need help; I need you."

She held her breath, afraid to breathe for fear that it would provoke the monster stalking across her ceiling. After a slight moment, not even one long enough for anyone to think about anything, Nagihiko replied, "I'll be there in five minutes."

"Please hurry, Nagihiko," Rima whispered, pressing her body up against the couch as she stared at the stairs leading above.

The next five minutes were perhaps the most long and horrifying five minutes of Rima's entire life; even being kidnapped held nothing on the feeling. There was a monster in her house, just walking around and making itself comfortable. Maybe it was friendly, but if the blood on it's face was any indication it had a much more violent purpose.

"Oh god, oh god," Rima couldn't bring herself to say anything except for desperate pleads to a deity she didn't even believe in.

"It's alright, Rima. Nagi's coming," Kusukusu said, trying to keep her voice happy and excited, but failing miserably. "Nagi won't let anything happen to you."

"Oh god, oh god," Rima whispered again, tears springing up in the corners of her eyes. She desperately brushed them away, trying to keep her breathing under control while her chest just kept rising and falling at a rapid pace.

Finally, a knocking sound was heard from across the room. Rima leapt to her feet and raced across the room frantically. Her body hit the door as she reached it, her fingers fumbling with the doorknob for a long moment before she stepped back and pulled the door open.

"Thank God!" she exclaimed upon seeing Nagihiko standing there, looking incredibly winded as he struggled to catch his breath. He had obviously rushed right over upon hearing that she was in trouble, and for one wild moment Rima felt a fluttering in her heart.

His body slouched over with his hands on his knees, he managed to ask, "What's wrong?"

"There was something out there, it looked like a bloody face!" Rima exclaimed, pointing to the window across the room before turning back to Nagihiko, "And then I heard something upstairs so I'm pretty sure it's in the house!"

"A bloody face? Are you sure you didn't just see a cat or something?" Nagihiko asked sarcastically, guessing that Rima's imagination had just been running wild. After all, bloody faces weren't an everyday sight, and someone like that coming to your house only happened in horror movies.

"How in the hell do you think I could mistake a cat for a bloody face? And how could a cat get into my house?" Rima spat at him angrily, causing Nagihiko to shrug.

"It makes more sense than you seeing a bloody face. Besides, are you sure you heard something upstairs?"

"Yes! I heard it too!" Kusukusu cut in, her eyes wide and fearful, "There's definitely something here!"

"Are you sure you-" Nagihiko started, but was cut off by his guardian character.

"Listen," Temari suddenly cut in, her voice low. Everyone froze for a moment, straining their ears. After a brief moment the creak of wood was heard. Nagihiko looked up at the ceiling, following the sound as whatever was up there crossed the room.

"Nagihiko," Rima whimpered, unable to say anything else as her heart pounded in her ears.

"It's probably just a mouse," Nagihiko said, trying to brush it off but finding that his voice was just a little bit higher than it should have been.

"I don't think so, Nagihiko. I sense a very sinister presence in the house," Temari whispered, her eyes dark as she stared above her. Rhythm and Kusukusu nodded at this, worried expressions on their faces.

"We need to get out of here, dude," Rhythm urged, his playful tone completely lost in face of the monster lurking above them.

"I don't know, I think we should go see what it is; maybe whatever it is is friendly," Nagihiko muttered, not really knowing why his common sense telling him to get the hell out of this house was being smothered by a curious feeling telling him to go upstairs.

"Nagihiko, I don't-" Rima started, but was cut off as Nagihiko turned to look at her.

"I sort of feel like… like its calling out to me, somehow," he said softly, uncertain of what exactly he was saying but finding that his words were true.

Rima suddenly wished she had called Kukai instead, because he surely would have taken her away from the house straightaway.

Nagihiko reached out and took Rima's hands, wrapping his long fingers around the palm before pulling the short girl after him. Rima hesitated for a moment, obviously not wanting to go upstairs where that horrible monster most likely was, but not wanting to be left alone either. She began walking slowly after Nagihiko, grasping his hand anxiously as she cursed him internally. Why in the hell did he want to go see this horrible thing?

The two made their way up the stairs slowly, Rima flinching at every creak and groan the house made.

The two stopped on the top of the stairs, pausing briefly as they didn't quite know where to go. This problem was quickly resolved as a groan could be heard, and the two spun around to face the bathroom.

"Is it… in the bathroom?" Kusukusu asked quietly, and Temari nodded slowly.

"Nagihiko," Rima whispered, her voice barely coming out she was so nervous, and although she wanted to beg him to take her back downstairs the words got caught in her throat. Instead, Nagihiko just tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her towards the door.

Nagihiko raised a hand and grasped the doorknob, slowly twisting the cold metal as he pushed it open-

A loud ringing filled the air, causing Rima and Nagihiko to jump about a foot in the air.

"My phone," Rima whispered, her heart pounding in her ears, almost laughing slightly at the break of the tension filling the air, "I left it on the table. Let me just go down and answer it."

Rima turned around, intent on heading to the staircase. But something stopped her. Something being a tall figure with white skin, hollow black eyes, and a huge smirk standing at the top of the stairs.

The phone's ringing resounded loudly in Rima's ears for a moment before her throat opened up and she let out a piercing scream. Nagihiko hurriedly spun around to see what was standing there, and in that moment such a horrible feeling filled his stomach that he felt like he would throw up.

He stared at the monster for a long moment, wondering what in the world he was looking at. It seemed sort of human, the basic build at least, but that face...

But it didn't matter what it looked like at all, because looks didn't dictate whether or not something was a killer.

Nagihiko's mouth opened but his throat was so dry he couldn't even speak, and even if he could speak he doubted if he would have anything to say. What words could he say to express his situation? There was a bloody monster standing several feet away, a monster that had broken into Rima's house with the intent to kill her.

This monster was going to kill them.

The monster suddenly leapt forward, it hands stretched out as it dove at the two, and Nagihiko hurriedly pulled Rima backwards at he stumbled away. Their bodies passed through the doorway to the bathroom and Rima fell to the floor, having not been expected to be jerked around. The door hit the wall with a loud sound before Nagihiko dove at it. He fumbled with the door, his fingers shaking so hard that he could barely grasp at it. As he desperately tried to get it closed as the creature charged at them once more. Nagihiko swung the door shut quickly, but the monster was right there.

He didn't make it in time.

The creature hit the closing door at full force, it's strength stopping Nagihiko from getting the door shut. The monster pushed on the door with an insane amount of force, and Nagihiko had to struggle to keep the door from flying completely open.

"Help me," Nagihiko muttered, pushing his body up against the door as he struggled to close it, his feet sliding backwards against the tile uselessly, unable to grip at the slick surface. He gasped as he pushed himself forward, trying hardest to prevent the door from reopening completely.

"What...?" Rima asked, for a moment confused, before her eyes grew wide. She struggled to her feet (her legs shaking so much that it was incredibly hard for her to do so) and rushed forwards as well, joining Nagihiko at the door. She slammed her body against it, pushing with all of the little strength she possessed, but she somehow felt as though it would do no good; the monster was too strong.

She was going to die in the bathroom with Nagihiko. She looked up at him for a brief moment, trying desperately to get some sort of reassurance, but all she could see in his eyes was terror. He was just as scared as she was. Her heart dropped at this; Nagihiko had _never_ looked so afraid before; he had always kept a level head for the sake of everyone else.

She was going to die.

Maybe a miracle struck with this thought, or maybe Nagihiko's body suddenly filled with adrenaline, but at that moment, just as the monster was slipping a hand through the crack between the door and the door frame, Nagihiko pushed even harder and the door collided with it's hand.

The monster let out a shriek (in an almost feminine voice) and withdrew from the door, giving Nagihiko time to slam the door shut and turn the lock. Both he and Rima sank down the door together, their backs pressed desperately against it as the breathed heavily, not able to speak for a few minutes.

As they took deeps breaths, panting heavily, they could hear the monster scratching at the door, desperate to get in, and the sound of Rima's cell phone ringing faintly in the distance.

"Are you okay?" Nagihiko was finally able to ask after several long moments. Rima nodded fiercely.

"You?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," He muttered, looking down at his hands and seeing that they were red. His skin was peeling slightly and he picked at it, wincing. He wanted to get up and wash his hands in the sink, but he was not stepping foot away from this door for fear the creature would come charging through it and kill Rima while his back was turned.

"What... I presume that's what you saw earlier?" Nagihiko asked, struggling to keep his voice level for Rima's sake at least, as he breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down.

"Yes! The exact same thing!" Kusukusu replied loudly, her eyes wide as she nodded her head quickly.

Rima fidgeted slightly, bringing her eyes up to Nagihiko's face. He could tell she was trying to keep a straight face as well, but just like him she was finding it hard. "We're going to die."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Nagihiko shook his head, his heart pounding in his ears. "No, don't say that. We're not going to die."

Rima shook her head once more. And although she looked so very scared, part of her looked certain about what she was saying; she really did believe they were going to die. "No, we are."

In the distance, Rima's phone could be heard ringing.

They were so preoccupied they didn't even stop to think why anyone would be trying to reach her so desperately.

~oOo~

"Shit!"

The boy slammed his phone shut, obviously getting nowhere with his attempts at reaching Rima. He couldn't believe his luck; already things were starting so badly. If only he had called a few minutes earlier... Well, he couldn't have called too early, right...?

He shook his head. No, no time to worry about that now. He just had to get over there as quickly as possible. There was no way he could let this happen.

He had to end it before it begun.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where's your phone?" Rima asked Nagihiko, her voice oddly monotone given the current situation. As she grabbed a chunk of Nagihiko's hair the boy let out a small yelp, turning slightly to glare at her (of course Rima responded by shrugging) before turning back.

"I left it at home; I was in such a hurry to get over here I forgot all about it," he muttered, grimacing slightly as Rima ran her fingers through his long hair. He winced at a small tug, and snapped at the blonde, "Don't tangle it!"

Rima rolled her eyes as she split his hair up, running her hands through it before she began to braid it. "Calm down, princess. I won't tangle your precious hair."

Nagihiko scowled a little, finding himself undeserving of her new-found nickname for him. After all, he had just saved her from a terrible monster.

But, then again, it was probably better like this. If Rima was acting normally, then he would be alright with the teasing and name-calling. After all, it was better than her crying.

"Dude, it's so boring in here," Rhythm whined for what had to be the tenth time since they had entered the bathroom. And, as usual, the others ignored him.

Nagihiko was just thankful the monster had gone away, or at least it had seemed to. It had been scratching at the door for a while, trying to get in he presumed, before giving up and leaving. Oh, but Nagihiko didn't think the monster actually left; he just knew it wasn't immediately out there. If they tried to leave now, chances were it would spring out from behind a corner and grab them when they were least expecting it (It seemed like something that would happen in a horror movie).

"I wonder who was trying to call you," Nagihiko asked, somewhat curious, as Rima tugged on his hair.

"I dunno. It wasn't one of the others, because they're coming over here in a few minutes anyway so they'd just wait... wait."

Rima's hands frozen in mid-air, dropping Nagihiko's hair to the ground. "They're coming here in a few minutes."

"They're coming here... here with the monster?" Nagihiko spun around quickly, his hair flying loose as he turn to look into Rima's terrified eyes, a manic expression on his own face, "They're coming _here_?"

"Yes, remember you were all coming over?!" Rima cried out, trying to keep her voice down but finding herself unable because her _best friends_ were about to come strolling into her house to find that monster... a monster that would surely show them no mercy.

"Shit, shit... wait! Maybe that was one of them on the phone, telling you that they were going to meet up later, or somewhere else!"

Rima frowned. "I doubt it. And it doesn't help us at all if we just try to get our hopes up with no reasoning behind it."

"Then we have to get out of here," Nagihiko muttered, quickly standing up and looking around the room, trying to find god-knows-what to help him.

"Great, Nagi. I'll just burst through the wall. Piece of cake," Rhythm said sarcastically as he floated besides Nagihiko's head, "How are you supposed to leave if the monster's guarding the door?"

"But it's _not_ guarding the door!" Temari emphasized from near the door, "I can't feel it right now!"

"The problem is that we don't know where the monster is, and it might just jump out of somewhere as we're trying to leave. It could be in the hall closet right near the front door, which would mean it has us cornered!" Rima countered, her voice still a little bit louder than normal was normal.

"But then if Amu and the others come in through the front door..." Kusukusu didn't finish her sentence, but she didn't need to. Everyone knew exactly what would happen if their friends walked in through the front door.

There was a brief moment where no one spoke, everyone involuntarily picturing what exactly the monster would do if their friends happened upon it. Rhythm was the first to break the silence.

"Then we need to try to get out to warn them!" he urged, but Temari just frowned at him.

"Then we'll die."

Rhythm scowled at her. "We then it's either them or us."

Kusukusu's face dropped. "But there has to be something we-"

"Wait a second," Rima suddenly cut in, her voice low and her face oddly white. Nagihiko gave her a worried look, half expecting something to leap out of the shower and stab her.

"Wha-"

"Shh!" Rima cut him off, pressing a finger to her lips. Nagihiko strained his ears, walking slowly towards the door. He expected to hear the fingernails scraping against the door, or perhaps even Rima's cellphone ringing in the distance. Maybe part of him even expected to hear the monster's breath behind him. But he didn't hear any of that. Instead, he heard the sound of a lock clicking and a door opening. But not the door to the bathroom (thank god). No, it was the front door.

"Rima-chan, I'm home!"

"It's my mother," Rima whispered, the color completely drained from her face.

And suddenly, they had a much bigger problem than Amu and the others.

"We have to go down there," Rima whispered, her eyes wide as she grabbed Nagihiko's arm, "We have to go down there and get her out of here."

"But that thing could be right outside the door!" Rhythm shouted, fear filling his face.

"It doesn't matter; we can't stay in the bathroom forever, anyway," Nagihiko muttered, moving his arm so that he was now holding Rima's hand.

He could feel her shaking, something he was sure she hadn't done in years.

"We have to hurry. Temari, tell us if you feel it," Nagihiko said quickly, and Temari barely had time to nod in response before the door was thrown open and Nagihiko was racing out of it, dragging Rima along after him. The two stormed down the stairs, knowing they were making quite a lot of noise but figuring that it didn't matter. The monster would know they were there anyway.

Nagihiko didn't even have time to think about what he was doing, or how he expected to save Rima's mother from a monster if he could barely save the two of them. All he could think about was how badly he needed to get her to safety.

But it turned out his worries didn't matter at all, seeing as the monster was standing in front of them. Or rather, behind Rima's mother. And worst of all, it was holding an ax behind it's back.

Rima's mom was digging through her purse while standing in the doorway, and she looked up at the two briefly before turning her attention back to her bag. "Oh hello, Nagi! It's nice to see you! Did Rima get scared and call you for help?"

"Mashiro-san, please come over here," Nagihiko whispered, not knowing why he felt like it would be a bad decision to raise his voice, and not knowing if he simply couldn't speak up.

"I'm sorry Nagi-kun but I can't here you. You'll have to speak up," Rima's mom muttered, glancing up at the two before turning back to her bag. She paused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked up at the two in front of her. "Why do you two look so terrified?"

"M-mom," Rima mumbled, starting to raise a finger to point behind her, but stopped as Nagihiko slapped her arm down. If she saw the monster now, she would certainly be killed, but seeing as the monster was momentarily still, it might spare her if they could just get her to come over to them.

"Please come here," Nagihiko begged, raising an open hand to Rima's mother. The woman gave him a confused look, as though wondering why in the world his behavior was so odd, before she shook her head.

"Just let me set my purse down on the-" Rima's mom turned around, and Nagihiko was useless to do anything but watch as she locked "eyes" with the killer.

There was a long moment of silence, before Mrs. Mashiro came to her "senses" and screamed, screamed an ear-splitting scream that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

The monster smirked briefly, and Nagihiko subconsciously let go of Rima's hand and instead slapped his own hurriedly over her eyes, ignoring the smacking sound it made and the cry that left her lips, because he knew what was going to happen and Rima did not need to see it.

And he wished he could ignore the sight in front of him himself as the monster swung the ax quickly, bringing it down into Mrs. Mashiro's shoulder.

The woman screamed as she staggered backwards, her voice chillingly high. Nagihiko could see the bone of her arm and shoulder, the two still just barely connected by a small chunk of bone and a little piece of her skin, so that the appendage hung limply at her side, blood oozing from the wound. She clutched at it desperately with her other arm, as though doing so would make it stop, as though doing so would make it reconnect.

Obviously, it couldn't.

She kept screaming as she tried to move away, her movements awkward and slow, but it was useless, the monster was much too agile, and instead the ax was brought into her once more, slicing open her chest this time. Blood flew from her body in an arch, splattering against the walls and floor, and only when Nagihiko could no longer hear her screaming was when it truly struck him that she was dead. He could feel bile fill his mouth, resisting the great urge to throw up.

_She was dead._

The killer raised the ax once more, apparently planning on making her death as painful as possible, and suddenly Nagihiko realized that they had to get out of there right now. And if they didn't... well, Nagihiko wouldn't let himself think about that.

So instead he spun around and ran, dragging Rima along after him. She started to turn her head back to look at the killer but Nagihiko snapped, "Don't."

Rima did not need to see that. She did not need to see her mother's broken body being chopped up by a beast; she did not need to see her blood on the wall and her organs on the floor. She did not need to see how happy the monster was with what he (or she, perhaps) was doing.

Rima couldn't see that; it would kill her.

But even this was a minor worry compared to the sound of footsteps racing after them.

"Nagi! It's following us!" Rhythm screamed, all of his usual cool attitude lost as he desperately flew forward, a look of absolute horror on his face. Nagihiko couldn't respond; all he could do was drag Rima up the stairs and race into her bedroom.

When they reached the door Nagihiko shoved Rima inside (a little forcefully). She stumbled in, spinning around quickly to watch him click the lock shut and race over to her dresser. The trinkets that were on top rattled as Nagihiko pressed himself against it, pushing it forward. The screech of the legs scraping the wooden floor echoed throughout her ears as she watched the dresser slowly move to block the door. One of the small figurines her mother had given to her crashed to the floor, breaking into dozens of little shards and Rima couldn't help but wonder, was that what happened to her mother?

Nagihiko collapsed to the floor as soon as the dresser was blocking the only entrance into the room, leaning against the wall breathlessly. He glanced up at Rima, his chest rising quickly as he panted for breath.

"Hell, what... why..." Rima couldn't even string to words together. She just stood there, staring blankly at nothing in particular with a look of complete horror on her face, her eyes so blank it almost seemed as though she had died. "Is... is my mother...?"

Nagihiko couldn't think of any way to answer her question; how could he tell her the truth? He just stared at her and after a moment of silence she turned her head down to meet his eyes. His brown eyes were so sad, were so dark with pain, that she automatically knew the answer; she didn't need to see the slight nod of his head to figure out the answer to her question.

A small sobbing sound left Rima's throat and she hurriedly pressed a hand to it, desperately trying to keep all of her pain hidden. She squeezed her eyes shut hard, shaking her head slightly as a muffled cry left her lips. Nagihiko could see tears falling over her hand, splattering on the floor in a way that reminded him of her mother's blood...

Unsure of what to say Nagihiko stood up, taking a few steps forward before wrapping his arms around Rima, bringing her body into his chest. He pressed the palm of his hand into the back of her head, the sound of her muffled crying making his heart drop into his stomach. He was silent, trying to think of anything he could possibly say to cheer her up, to make her body stop shaking with her tears. But, before he could think of anything to say, he was interrupted by a revelation that made the situation even worse.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Amu-chan and the others are approaching the house, quick quickly if I might add," Temari spoke from where she floated near the window. Nagihiko and Rima quickly sprung apart, identical looks of horror on their faces, before they raced across the room, the latter hurriedly throwing the window open before Nagihiko stuck his head out of it.

"Oh my god," The group was quickly walking towards the house, unknowing of the danger they were in. Tadase was leading the group, walking briskly with a serious look on his face, and Yaya was bouncing after him, laughing at something Kukai was saying to a blushing Amu and unamused Kairi.

They just looked so normal; it was just a normal day to them.

Rima's breath caught in her throat for a small moment before she stuck her head out the window as well and screamed, "Amu!"

"Hotori-kun!" Nagihiko was trying desperately to get someone's attention, but to no avail; they couldn't hear them. The group just kept walking, and in less than thirty seconds they would be at the door...

In less than a minute they would all be dead.

"Oh my god oh my god what do we do?" Rima cried, pulling her head back into the room quickly, her eyes wide as he jumped up and down nervously, unable to contain her fear. But it seemed Nagihiko (or rather Rhythm) had found a solution to their problem, that is if the headphones around his neck were any indication.

Nagihiko didn't say a word, and instead just gave Rima the cocky sort of smirk that he only wore during specific situations. And before Rima could tell him no, Nagihiko's arms were around her body and he was perched in the window.

If Rhythm got them killed by jumping out the window than Rima swore to god she would-

Nagihiko flew through the air before landing on the ground hard. His legs shook as Rima fell onto the grass and cried out. She quickly jumped to her feet and, after grabbing a vaguely disoriented Nagihiko's hand, she began running towards the front of the house.

The group was a few feet from the front door as Rima screamed, "Stop! Get away from the house!"

The group of five stopped where they stood, taking a few steps back as they turned to look at the two newcomers.

"What's going on?" Kukai asked, obviously incredibly confused (maybe because the two appeared out of thin air, or maybe because they were holding hand), "Where did you come from?"

"No time," Nagihiko urged, a desperate look on his face as he and Rima ran up to the group, so close to the front door that it made him incredibly uneasy. He let go of her hand as they approached the others, and even though she would never say this, this made Rima uneasy herself. "We need to go now! We have to get away from here!"

"What are you talking about?" Amu asked, positively perplexed, "You look like you just saw a ghost!"

"Just go!" Nagihiko yelled, grabbing one of Amu's and Tadase's hands in his as he began running away from the house, Rima following right in step with him. Amu and Tadase stumbled a bit as they were pulled forward, and it was quite the miraculous feat that during the first few seconds of their escape that they didn't end up in a pile on the floor.

The other three quickly raced after the others, completely confused as to what was going on but not wanting to be left behind. And they remained confused, until Rima looked back and let out a scream. All of the others quickly looked back at this and suddenly everything made a lot more sense. They all let out cries of shock and terror as they stared at the monster in the doorway, its body and clothes bloody, and an ax held firmly in its hand.

"Wait, we shouldn't run away!" Tadase yelled, attempting to stop but finding that Nagihiko's grip on his hand made that impossible, leaving the two in an awkward sort of jog. "We should try to stop it, shouldn't we?"

"How in the hell do you expect us to do that?" Nagihiko yelled back, desperately pulling Tadase forward against his wishes, "It just killed her moth... someone without any effort at all!"

"We can't just let it run amok, can we?" Tadase fired back, still desperately trying to get back to the house (unfortunately for him, Nagihiko was a lot stronger than he was). "What if it goes and kills someone else?"

"Wait, maybe Tadase-kun's right," Amu agreed, walking alongside the other two (the rest of the group had to slow down due to Nagihiko and Tadase's argument). "What if it goes next door and kills the neighbors?"

"It's better than it killing us, isn't it?" Nagihiko spat back at the two, a fierce expression on his face. The whole group stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, far enough from the house that they didn't think they had to worry all that much, especially since the monster was not following them (actually, they couldn't see it at all; perhaps it had gone back into the house).

"I..." Tadase couldn't think of a rebuttal to this, and instead just went silent. Nagihiko ran the hand not holding Tadase's (still afraid he's run back towards the house) through his hair, sighing slightly; he had never thought that one of his friends would actually _want_ to go stop the monster. Well, then again, he had wanted to go see it himself when it first broke into the house.

"Trust me, it's stronger than it looks; I don't think any of us could take it in a fight," Nagihiko muttered, looking aside and seeing that Kairi had pulled his cellphone out of the pocket and was punching in numbers. "Is this really the best time to make a phone call?"

Kairi shot him an aggravated sort of look as he held the phone up to his ear. "I'm calling the police; I assume they should know about this situation and the murder you said occurred?"

"Oh, I suppose you're right."

For some reason, Nagihiko wasn't thinking straight at all. Why hadn't it occurred to him to call the police? He would've just kept running, no destination in mind at all. He just didn't want his friends to end up like Rima's mother...

And Rima's mother. If he didn't keep his mind occupied on something, like Rima's retelling of what happened to the others, all he could see was Mashiro-san's body lying on the floor, her blood seeping from her skin and slowly dripping from where it had splattered against the walls. Every time he blinked he saw the ax pierce her skin, and every time the conversation dropped for a moment he could hear her scream piercing his ears. It was all just too much to bear; he just wanted to cry.

But he couldn't cry, he couldn't let Rima down like that. Right now, she needed him to be strong, so that's what he would do. He would just take the fear and pain he had and shove it down. He couldn't let Rima see him upset.

It took the police only a few minutes to get to the house (the police station wasn't far from where Rima lived) and upon their arrival Nagihiko (incredibly reluctantly, mind you) let the others drag him back to the house.

"Is this where the body is? The police officer said, gesturing towards the house as the group of teenagers approached him. Nagihiko could see Rima stiffen at the word "body," and it hurt him that she had to hear her mother referred to in such a way. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak right now, not wanting all his anger and fear to come pouring out of his lips.

The group approached the house, the police officer walking much to quickly for Nagihiko to be comfortable with and as they reached the front door he half expected the monster to come bursting out of it wielding the ax.

The police officer opened the door, and despite himself Nagihiko squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the carnage on the floor again. More than that, he didn't want Rima or Amu to see it either, or any of the others for that matter.

What if the monster was right there, what if it was leaping forward as he stood there, what if they were all going to die right now, after making it through so much-

"Nagi! Open your eyes, dude!" At Rhythm's urging, Nagihiko let his eyes open and froze at the sight in front of him. It was much more horrific than he would have possibly thought possible. Nothing would have prepared him for the sight in front of him. The sight of...

Nothing.

Everything was gone; not just the body, but every speck on blood the had previously stained the floors and walls. But nobody had gone in or out the front door the whole time, and this would surely require a cleaning crew. _Nobody could clean this well._

"But, but... she was lying right there! And there was so much blood everywhere! The walls and the carpet!" Nagihiko couldn't say anything else as he walked into the room; he was speechless. How was this possible? He knew for a fact that Mashiro-san was dead, nobody could survive what she went through! But where was her body?

"You damn kids, thinking you can just play pranks on the police whenever you please," the officer muttered, shaking his head harshly at the absolutely perplexed teenagers. He stomped to the door angrily, a harsh scowl on his face, "Next time you think of reporting a false crime I'll have you fined."

Rima looked up at Nagihiko as the rest of the group entered the house, and he couldn't help but noticed a little bit of hope on her face, "Are you sure she was dead?"

And as much as it killed Nagihiko to extinguish the little bit of hope Rima had, all he could do was shake his head. "There is no possible way that she could be alive."

"You know what this means then, don't you?" Kairi asked, opening the nearby closest, frowning,and then closing it once more. Everyone just stared at him, obviously not knowing, and Yaya shook her head fiercely. "It means the killer cleaned up after itself and took Mashiro-san's body with him."

Kukai frowned deeply. "Why would it do that? Did it want the body? Did it not want the cops to get involved or something?"

"You're guess is as good as mine," Kairi shrugged. Tadase frowned, biting his lip a little as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"How badly was the body attacked?" he asked. Nagihiko had no idea why Tadase would want to know such information, but he didn't really feel like telling him when Rima was in the room.

He shot a worried look over at Rima, who shook her head and stared up at him blankly. "No, it's alright. Answer his question."

"Well, the arm was pretty much cut off, and her chest was torn open as well. I think the monster may have attacked her once more, but I didn't stay around to see..."

Tadase nodded slightly, staring straight ahead as though he were thinking something through. Nagihiko wondered if he had any idea as to what was going on, but before he could ask about this Kairi spoke once more.

"I'm not trying to alarm anyone, but I think you should all know that based on what you told me and what I can see here, I would guess that the monster wants Mashiro-senpai dead. In my opinion, he won't be stopping here, either."

Nagihiko's heart dropped, a cold feeling settling in his chest as he pictured Rima being ripped apart by the monster, Rima's chest being torn open by the ax, Rima lying in a pool of her own blood...

"Why do you think that?" Rima asked, her voice shaking slightly, making it obvious that she was incredibly apprehensive. If possible this made Nagihiko feel even worse. He had _never_ heard her sound like this before.

"It obviously came in here with an intent to kill you; why else would he sneak in precisely when you were the only one home?"

"Well, that was rather convenient timing," Amu noted, shrugging slightly as turned to look at Rima. She opened her mouth once more, probably trying to think of something comforting she could say to the short blonde, but instead closed it. She actually looked quite sad, her shoulders dropping as her head tilted, giving Rima a concerned expression, and even though she didn't know Rima's mother very well, Nagihiko could tell she was feeling her best friend's pain.

"I..." Rima was obviously very distraught, and given the current circumstances her feelings were completely understandable. Nagihiko kind of wished she was more open about herself and would expression her inner turmoil to the others. But no, of course she wouldn't show her weakness, not to anyone.

But, considering there was a killer lurking about, Nagihiko might have said he was actually glad she shoved her emotions aside and put up a brave facade. After all, every defense she could use against a monster was useful.

Nobody spoke for a long moment, and just as Nagihiko was beginning to think that Rima was going to fire back with some angry comment disproving Kairi's theory or burst into tears (which _was_ very unlike her, but again, under the current circumstances...) Rima finally said something.

And pretty much, he couldn't think of anything she _could_ say to fit the situation more.

"Fuck my life."


	3. Chapter 3

"It's happening again, everything's happen the same way it did last time!" he muttered, pacing back and forth across the floor, wringing his hands as he shook his head. He wore a heavy frown on his face as he stopped mid-step and turned, staring at nothing in particular.

"Argh!" he cried out in frustration, running his hands through his hair. He pulled roughly on it, not sure what he expected to accomplish from such an action except for pain.

"What can I do? I tried calling her but she wouldn't pick up… maybe I was already too late," he murmured, walking over to his desk and sitting down in the chair with a thump. He grabbed a book sitting on the table and flipped through a few of the pages, stopping at a blank one. With a sigh, he picked up a pencil and began scribbling something down.

"Someone's already dead, and it's just started… well, it doesn't sound like the body will be usable this time… does this mean another one of those girls will die?"

He sat back in the chair as he rested the book on his thigh, sighing as he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. There were just so many things to consider, so many different possibilities and outcomes to consider. This wasn't like school, where if he made a mistake it was just a grade, and he couldn't look at the back of the textbook for the answers.

"Hm, well things will change from today on, right? I'm not letting her succeed with her first kidnapping this time, that's for sure. And then we'll have a head start on her, and we kind of know how to stay safe… oh wait, no. Only I'll know now. And wait... they won't know she's after us."

He stopped talking, putting the book on the table before crossing his arms over his chest as he reclined in the chair. "Damn, this is complicated. I don't even know where to start."

He sighed again before standing up and heading over to the door. If he was correct in his thinking, it was only a few hours now. He'd have to get prepared, and maybe he would have to call some people to warn them….

Oh god, what if it went differently this time? What if she changed her mind about her course of action without reason?

No, no he couldn't worry about that now. All he could do was prepare for what was to come.

He wouldn't let it happen again, that's for sure.

~oOo~

Rima was not amused whatsoever by the prospect of staying at Nagihiko's house, much less with staying in his room, but she didn't really have any say in the decision, which is why she was currently sitting on a spare bed in his room, glaring at the wall.

"Why do I have to stay here?" she grumbled, giving Nagihiko an unamused sort of look.

"Well, my house has the most extra room, and since your dad isn't here to take care of you, you're stuck with me," Nagihiko grinned. He didn't say the real reason why, that he was scared the monster would return to kill her, and that he wanted to be there to protect her in case it came down to it. But of course he wouldn't say that; he didn't want her to get upset again, and reminding her of her mother's death and the monster that wanted to murder her would surely do just the opposite of that.

Rima rolled her eyes. "I'd rather room with Amu."

And even though she said that, it wasn't really true. She was actually glad she was staying with Nagihiko, because Nagihiko was the one who dropped everything to save her and Nagihiko was the one who would risk his life for her.

"Hey, who was calling you earlier, anyway?" Nagihiko suddenly remembered that Rima's phone had been ringing like crazy during the whole thing with the monster, and that they had never figured out who was trying to call her.

Rima's eyes flashed wide open as she let out a gasp. Nagihiko jumped at this, half-expecting the monster to race into the room with an ax or something, but was quickly relieved as Rima said, "Shit, my phone! I forgot all about it!"

"So it's still at your house?" Nagihiko asked, frowning a little from the scare Rima gave him, but quickly dismissing his unhappiness as they weren't about to be killed, and that was definitely not something to be unhappy about.

Rima nodded. "And it's going to stay there. I'm not going to go back in there no matter what."

"I guess I could understand that," Nagihiko nodded. It would be hard to go inside your home after your mother was killed, especially because that was the place where she died. Going in there would just bring up all sorts of memories that didn't need to be brought up.

"I wonder who was trying to call you, though. It couldn't have been one of the others, because nobody mentioned anything about it, and they had been trying really hard to get a hold of you," Nagihiko pondered, trying to think of who, besides their friends, would need to talk to her so urgently.

"Well then I don't know. I don't think anyone else has my phone number, but what you said made sense," Rima couldn't think of anyone else who would be calling her either. If her dad or a relative was calling they would've tried the home line, and Nagihiko was right, if one of her friends tried calling they would've made some offhanded remark about the monster being why she didn't pick up the phone.

So who had been calling her, and why had he been trying so hard?

Normally she would brush it off as one of her slaves or something like that, but after what happened today, she was wondering if someone was trying to warn her about what had happened, or at the time, was going to happen.

"Hey, why did you take me upstairs anyway?" Rima asked after a moment, the question suddenly popping into her mind as she thought about the phone ringing.

"Well, um, I'm not sure, exactly," Nagihiko seemed to be a little embarrassed by his earlier behavior, or at least that's what Rima thought based off of his lack of eye contact with her. "I just felt like the monster was calling out to me somehow… I could kind of feel its presence."

"Feel its presence?" Rima stared at Nagihiko blankly.

"I can't really explain it; I'm not even sure what I mean myself."

"Dude, you've totally lost it," Rhythm sighed with a sad shake of his head. Temari shook her head at this as well, but in a more stern sort of way.

"No, Rhythm. I felt it too; the weird attachment to that thing. It was as if it it were speaking to me," Temari said, her voice oddly calm given the current situation.

Kusukusu blinked. "I felt its presence, like with x-eggs, but I don't feel it calling out to me or anything like that."

"It's just like… I don't know. I just knew it was there, and for some reason, it didn't feel like I should be scared off it. I mean, I know _that_ feeling was dead wrong, but it was sort of like the monster was an old friend or something." Nagihiko knew his words didn't make much sense, but he wanted to get them off his chest anyway.

"An old friend?" Rima asked, an incredibly confused look on her face, "That thing was a monster!"

"I know, I know. But I just had this feeling…" Nagihiko stopped talking, staring off into the distance as he pondered what it might be. "I just… I know it somehow."

"You've lost it," Rima muttered, an agitated sort of look on her face. But yet, she was concerned for Nagihiko. He was by no means dumb, and would never just go off after a killer without a good reason. He was probably telling the truth, but it was a little bit scary that his psyche was telling him this monster was related to him in some way.

"Well I… yeah, I probably have," Nagihiko murmured. He had been about to fire back with some harsh comment about how after saving her life and witnessing the death of her mother he had all the right to loose it, but he had cut himself off before it got to that. Rima did not need to be reminded of the death of her mother; she needed to forget it. And bringing up everything that happened earlier, well that would definitely make her remember it.

Rima should be smiling right now, she should smirking at his stupidity, but yet all she was doing was frowning. Because she was devastated. She had just lost her mother, the person would had given birth to her, the person who had always stayed with her her whole life.

Neither one spoke for a long moment, before Nagihiko whispered, "It's okay to cry."

"I don't… I'm not going to cry. I'm fine," but even as Rima said this her breath shook and her lips trembled. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, biting her lips and as her chest shook up and down. Her face scrunched up as she brought her hands to it, trying to smother and hide her tears. "I'm fine."

"Rima-chan, it's okay to cry," Nagihiko whispered, wanting to be able to comfort Rima, wanting to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but knowing that she wouldn't want that. All he could do was put a hand on her back and try to assure her that tears were expected, that crying didn't make her weak.

Rima opened her mouth, trying to say something, but all she could do was let out a loud wail instead. Her whole body shook as tears poured down from her eyes in such a way her fake tears never could. She reached out towards Nagihiko hesitantly, almost as if she didn't want to, but he understood.

She did need him right now.

He held her to him, tears filling his own eyes just from the feeling of Rima trembling in his arms. She was so hurt, in so much pain. She had just lost her mother, and she was probably going to be come after next.

Neither one could bring themselves to speak for several long minutes, until Rim's eyes had dried and were all puffy and red, which made Nagihiko even sadder, because she never allowed herself to look like that.

"It'll be alright," he whispered, taking her face in his hands, not so much trying to be romantic as comforting, just wanting her to know that he was going to support her no matter what. "I won't leave you; I'll be with you until the very end. No matter what happens, I will protect you."

Rima sniffed, and even though it was her cue to make a sarcastic comment and say she would never need him, she could only remain quiet.

But really, she was glad he said that. She was glad he cared.

She was glad she had him.

~oOo~

Tadase's eyes shot open, but it didn't really help him much; around him the room was still pitch black. The curtains were closed, so even if he tried to see his hand in front of his face he would be unable to do so. He really should have left them open, he figured, especially considering what happened earlier that day. Oh well, it was too late for that now.

He sat upright in his bed, straining to hear the footsteps that had roused him from where he lay once more. The room was eerily silent, leaving Tadase with the feeling that whoever had woken him up was frozen in place.

All he could do was sit there and try to figure out where the sound was coming from.

It would be no good, turning on the light, nor would it be calling out into the darkness. The monster lurking in the darkness would likely attack him before he could get anywhere with his plan. Instead he just had to wait, like a sitting duck, for an attack that could come from any direction.

His heart pounded in his ears as his eyes scanned the darkness, wondering if he was just being paranoid and the sound was just Kiseki taking a stroll across the floorboards. Wouldn't he feel foolish then...

He heard he sound again, and his head snapped in the other direction. It was the monster, wasn't it? Yes, of course it was; nobody else would be in his room at this hour. The monster that had killed Mashiro-san had now come for him.

And all he could do was sit there and wait for it to attack.

~oOo~

Ikuto never felt welcome in the Hotori household, even after Tadase's dad cleared everything up with his wife. He could still feel the woman glaring daggers into his back every time she passed by. And he could also hear, plain as day, her mutterings of "devil child" and "black cat of misfortune" whenever she thought he wasn't in earshot (or maybe she wanted him to hear, he wasn't sure).

Anyway, Ikuto didn't usually come to visit Tadase because of this, but since he had just come back into town Tadase's father had welcomed him into their house with open arms (probably hoping to pay him back for the bad treatment he had received as a child).

He strolled down the hall after being let into the house by Yui, trying to figure out if he remembered where Tadase's room was. After a minute or so of walking he stopped, confused as to how big this house actually was. Well, he supposed he'd been their twice in the last what, eight years?

Just as he was beginning to get a little bit concerned (getting lost in a house which held a woman who hated every fiber of your being definitely was _not_ a comfortable feeling) he heard a door slamming from behind him. Ikuto turned around, a bit puzzled, to see Tadase leaning against his door, breathing heavily as he rested his head against the wooden surface.

Ikuto stared at the younger boy for a moment, confused as to what Tadase could have been doing in his room that would put so much strain on him (well, he supposed he _was_ at that age...) before the blond looked up.

"Oh!" Tadase exclaimed, his eyes widening drastically at the sight of his long absent brother standing before him. "Ikuto! I didn't know you were coming to visit!"

"Dude, what's up? You're acting like you just ran a marathon or something," Ikuto inquired, raising an eyebrow suspiciously, finding his situation much more pressing than greetings.

Tadase didn't know what to say; or rather, he didn't know what he should say. Should he tell Ikuto what just happened in his room? But if he did that, Ikuto would tell Amu, and Amu would get scared. Wouldn't it just cause more chaos?

But the others had to know that the monster wasn't done, and that it wanted more than Rima. They had to know their lives were in danger. But, then again, would knowing really help any of them? The person who had come to him, that person had said he shouldn't let too many people know about it. Shouldn't he listen? That person obviously knows what they're talking about; they look so confident, and obviously something about them isn't right.

Tadase opened his mouth, wishing he knew what was going to happen next so he could make a logical choice, but he didn't know. He had no idea what was going to happen next.

So all he could do was force out a laugh and stand up straight. "Oh, Kiseki just made me go through a rather rough character change, that's all."

Ikuto wasn't dumb or gullible. He could tell something was up; he could see the fear in Tadase's eyes. But unfortunately he had no idea what Tadase was so scared about, and why he would want to keep it from him.

What could be so bad that Tadase would keep it to himself like this?

"I'm going to go get some breakfast; why don't you come with me?"

Tadase didn't wait for Ikuto to answer and instead just began walking towards the kitchen, an unnatural smile on his face. His expression was much to stiff, much too forced.

Ikuto stared at Tadase for a moment as he other walked away ahead of him, his eyes catching on a long scratch across his cheek and a few dark spots on the sleeve of his shirt that looked oddly like blood. What in the name of god...?

"Are you alright?" Ikuto asked, hurrying to catch up with the younger male. Tadase blinked up at him briefly before raising a hand to touch his cheek.

"Oh! Yeah, that's because of Kiseki. I tripped and fell into the table. I'm fine, don't worry."

That was an obvious lie, but if that's the way Tadase was going to be, then he would pretend to believe it for now. After all, he must have a good reason for hiding everything from him... right?

~oOo~

So far it was working, right? Nobody had been kidnapped yet. But who knew what she was going to do tomorrow after failing today... Who knew what she was going to do to the next person.

Would it be Yaya again, or would she jump the gun and go straight for Rima?

Oh god, he didn't know; why was this so complicated?

He flipped through the pages of the book and stopped at one close to the end, taking a moment to scribble down something.

Please, he prayed, please let everything go alright this time.

~oOo~

**A/N: **I got some nasty stomach virus that's going around and I'm kinda better but I feel like I'm gonna pass out so if you spot any mistakes I actually have a good reason this time. Kind of. XD But do not hesitate to point them out, and I'll fix them as soon as my head clears.

And, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. :)


	4. Chapter 4

"Hurry up mother; we're going to be late for school!"

Nagihiko was standing at the front door of his house, his arms crossed over his chest as he tapped his foot impatiently. His mom, having had such a strong love for Rima's hair all these years, had taken it upon herself to try out pretty much every hairstyle imaginable on the blonde. So far this morning he had seen her with ponytails, buns, and with the incredibly surprising straight hair. (Nagihiko had decided Rima looked better when it was curled).

He sighed, leaning against the door frame as he waited for Rima to appear. Although this was a little annoying, it was probably distracting Rima, and that had to be a good thing.

He wondered how she must feel about all of this. Her mom had been killed, her body vanishing into thin air, and her father was out of the country, unable to be contacted. How would it feel to know both of your parents had left you, that you were all alone?

Nagihiko didn't really want to think about that, and was saved from doing so by his grandmother approach.

"Good morning, Nagihiko-kun."

"Good morning, grandmother," Nagihiko said, bowing his head out of respect for the elderly woman.

His grandmother was a strict and opinionated woman, one that took no nonsense from anyone. And, since Nagihiko had abandoned his family's tradition of cross-dressing, he wasn't in the greatest standing with her.

"You have been behaving horribly as of late," the old woman said, her face emotionless as she stared him straight in the eyes. It gave of a weird feeling; she wasn't mad, but yet there was _something_ in her expression... what was it?

Nagihiko frowned. "Is this about me choosing not to dress as a woman?"

The woman shook her head. "No, no. It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

The old woman sighed, as though Nagihiko was purposely making this difficult for her. But what was he supposed to have said? As far as he could tell, he had been behaving quite well lately. "You have forgotten the past."

"The past?" Nagihiko was confused; he was pretty sure he had a good enough memory to remember the past. What was she talking about? History, as a whole? Or something related to him?

"If you forget it, it _will _consume you."

"Consume... me?" Nagihiko froze, not sure why those words struck a chord in his head. He shook his head slightly, frowning as he tried to concentrate.

He _had _forgotten something, hadn't he? What was it? He couldn't think; it was like smoke was filling his mind, heavy smoke from roaring fires.

What was it?

"Let's go now before she changes her mind again."

Nagihiko blinked, turning to see Rima rapidly approaching with her hair pulled back into two long braids. She was scowling as well, no doubt unhappy with the abuse her hair had just received.

Nagihiko turned back to his grandmother, who looked as disinterested as ever. "Remember this time, and don't be stupid again."

"Wait, what?"

But his grandmother was already leaving, and it didn't look like she was going to say anything else on the matter.

"Ha, even your own grandmother thinks you're stupid," Rima laughed, slipping on her shoes after stepping around the shocked boy. "That's saying something."

"For such a pretty face you've sure got a rude mouth," Nagihiko frowned, but deciding to let it go because of everything that had happened the day before. "Your hair looks really nice like that."

Rima's face turned the faintest shade of pink as she scowled up at him. "Don't flirt with me."

Nagihiko laughed, slipping on his shoes as well as Rima opened the front door. "As you wish."

"Are you quoting the princess bride?" Rima asked suspiciously, a scowl growing on her face.

Nagihiko laughed again, and didn't answer as he walked past her and out the door.

He didn't really intend to quote the movie (and he sure as hell didn't expect Rima to be familiar with it at all, given as it was an English movie) but maybe it was kind of fitting.

Maybe his "as you wish" really did mean "I love you."

~oOo~

At school that same day, everything was surprisingly normal.

Well, as normal as Nagihiko and Rima showing up together (causing a major scandal amongst the students) and not fighting about something, and as normal as an incredibly hot older man walking towards the school at Tadase's side (that would probably cause a major scandal as well).

As the two boys approached the school, earning many covetous glances from the female population, Ikuto let out a small chuckle. Tadase gave him a curious look. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing… I just haven't seen her in a while," Ikuto said, smiling softly. For a moment Tadase was confused, but then he looked ahead of them and saw Amu walking several feet in front of them.

"Oh." That was true; what had it been, three, four years? "Well, she'll be happy to see you."

"I hope so," Ikuto muttered, and even though it wasn't an easy thing to read from Ikuto, as he was so good at keeping a calm front, Tadase could tell he was a bit nervous.

"Don't worry; she talks about you all the time," Tadase reassured him. Ikuto gave him a small smile before walking ahead, towards the pink-haired girl.

Tadase slowed down his pace, smiling as Amu let out a shriek, spinning around rapidly to yell Ikuto's name. Tadase half expected her to throw her arms around him, but instead she just turned away and crossed her arms over her chest, blushing fiercely all the while. Tadase laughed; he hadn't seen her "cool and spicy" act for awhile.

"Ikuto's back?" Tadase looked up to see Kukai standing there, grinning happily as he held his bag over his shoulder.

"Yeah; he showed up at my house this morning," Tadase replied, turning back to the other two.

"Utau's gonna flip out, that's for sure," Kukai laughed, imagining his girlfriend's response to her brother's return (even if she didn't love him anymore, she would still be pretty excited about it).

"Yeah," Tadase said softly, his tone drawing the brunettes eyes to his face.

"Dude, are you okay?" he asked, his green eyes furrowing in concern. Tadase looked puzzled for a moment, before he realized the scratch on his face.

"Oh this? Not its fine. I just-"

"No, no not the scratch…" Kukai muttered, shaking his head, "Your expression was a little off; you look kind of sad."

"Do I?" Tadase asked, his voice sounding almost thoughtful. "Hm, I wouldn't know why; there's nothing to be sad about."

"Maybe sad's not right… what's that word? Oh yeah, nostalgic," Kukai said slowly, thinking it over carefully. He nodded as Tadase turned away, scanning the yard.

"Have you seen Fujisaki-kun and Mashiro-san yet?"

"Nah, although I have heard the rumors that they're shacking up. I suppose those are kind of true, though," Kukai laughed, before breaking off. His voice dropped to a whisper, forcing Tadase to lean closer to him. "Although I am very worried about her; that's not an easy thing to witness. And if what Sanjo said is true…."

"Yeah," Tadase nodded, taking a moment to glance over at Amu and Ikuto, the former waving her arms around crazily, before speaking once more, "I think we should be especially careful."

"Yeah, you're right," Kukai nodded, a deadly serious look on his face for the first time in a very long time. "I was thinking about it, and I wondered if maybe Mashiro might not be the only one the monster is after."

Tadase's eyebrows furrowed at Kukai's unexpected declaration. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, who would have a grudge against Mashiro of all people? All she does besides stay at home is hang out with us, and she's never by herself," Kukai explained nonchalantly, giving the blond a small shrug, "Besides, with guardian characters, anything supernatural is probably linked to us."

"Supernatural?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, that thing that killed Mashiro-san looked like a corpse. Would you ever see anything like that walking around normally? There's no way something unnatural isn't going on right now."

Tadase wasn't sure how to respond to this suggestion, but he was saved from doing so by the bell ringing. "I think we should all meet up after school to talk about this."

"Yeah," Kukai nodded, before beginning to walk towards the school. "For now, I'm gonna go with zombies."

"Zombies..." Tadase murmured, letting out a small chuckle; only Kukai would come up with something that preposterous.

As the two boys passed by them, Amu broke off from her conversation with Ikuto. "I'll see you after school."

"Yeah, see you," Ikuto said with a grin. For some reason, seeing his two best friends talking so nicely to each other made Tadase's stomach drop.

"Hey, we're all meeting after school," Tadase quickly said before the older man could leave, "Why don't you come and meet up with us?"

Ikuto cocked an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't show any surprise on his face. "Sure. See you then, kiddie-king."

And Tadase should have been mad at that nickname, but he couldn't bring himself to be. Instead he just turned around and walked inside with his other two friends.

~oOo~

Maybe they thought she needed cheering up, but Rima wasn't sure why everyone (including Ikuto, for some absurd reason) had decided to hang out after school. It was stupid, she thought, that they thought eating ice cream and window shopping would make her forget her mother's death.

Well, maybe it did help a little bit, especially when Kukai fell head first into the trash can and the stray dog chased Ikuto up a tree, but really, it didn't help help feel all that better. Every time Rima closed her eyes all she could do was picture her mother, alive and smiling, and how she would never see her like that again.

Rima would never hear her mother's voice again, would never get scolded for spending too much money on gag manga...

Suddenly, the chocolate ice cream she had ate earlier was not cooperating with her stomach one bit. She took a few deep breaths, telling herself that throwing up in a trash can was definitely not a proper thing to do, and tried to count to ten.

Calm down, calm down, she told herself. Off and on since _it_ happened Rima had been getting hit with waves of remorse and nausea, and all she could do was try to calm herself down. There was no way she was letting Nagihiko see her cry; she couldn't cry now.

She had to pretend she was fine.

She was fine. She was fine. She wasn't-

There was a sudden presence on her back, something warm that she nearly immediately recognized as a hand, patting her gently. Rima looked up, a bit surprised, to see that the hand belonged to Nagihiko.

He didn't look at her or say anything, but instead just moved his hand back and forth. And that was maybe what Rima needed.

Two days ago she would have shrugged him off, or yelled some sort of insult at him, but now all she could do was stand there. Because it was comforting. It was something her mother would have done for her, but she supposed she'd never feel that comfortable presence ever again.

Maybe, if Nagihiko was here, Rima would be alright. He had saved her life once, he could probably do it again.

Really, he wasn't half bad.

Not that she would ever tell_ him_ that.

"So wait a second," Ikuto asked as the group walked around aimlessly, trying to waste their time, "I didn't catch why blondie is staying with Nagi."

Oh great, just as she was beginning to feel better, too.

"Oh, well, Rima's mother was killed yesterday," Amu whispered, leaning in towards Ikuto (not that it did any good; Rima could still hear her) "And the thing that killed her tried to kill Rima was well."

"Thing? Don't you mean person?" Ikuto seemed skeptical of the whole situation.

"No, I don't know what that thing was, but it definitely wasn't a human. I think it might be a zombie," Kukai shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring off into the distance as he tried to visualize the monster in his mind. "I mean, I didn't really get a clear view of it, but I think if it was a human it definitely wouldn't have been alive in that state."

"I also found it doubtful that the murderer was a normal human, but there was no way something like a zombie is plausible," Kairi added, also thinking it over carefully with far-away look in his eyes, "For now, I am hesitant to label it as human or monster."

"I was thinking about it, and I figured the rest of us may be in danger too," Kukai cut in loudly, causing Yaya to jump a foot in the air and Amu to let out a small shriek. Ikuto's eyebrows furrowed as he shot a glance in Tadase's direction. "I mean, this is obviously supernatural-"

"I'm sure there is a logical expla-"

"And anything supernatural is definitely linked to all of us, right? I mean, what would Mashiro have done for _only _her to get targeted?"

"That is a very good point," Nagihiko muttered, "What _would_ she have done to make anyone want to kill her?"

Nobody spoke for a long moment, their minds tossing and turning as they tried to answer the question. Eventually everyone turned to look at Rima, who simply shrugged. "I can't think of anything."

"Well then... maybe Kukai's right?" Amu asked, a nervous expression on her face, as though she didn't want to believe what she was saying, "Maybe the rest of us are going to be attacked as well."

"No. No, this is ridiculous. There is no reason for anyone else to get attacked," Kairi shook his head fiercely.

"We don't know that, though. And isn't it better to be safe than sorry?" Nagihiko shot at him.

"But why? What would anything want us for? What have we done wrong?" Kairi was desperate, frantic almost, and the sight of him like this made the whole situation worse.

Nobody knew. One or two people shrugged or shook their head, but nobody said anything. Part of Nagihiko had the nagging feeling that he might have something to do with it (especially after what his grandmother said earlier that day) but he was just as lost as everyone else.

"Hey, Ikuto! Has Easter been up to anything lately?" Yaya asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet in a way unlike her (as though she were trying to remain calm, but finding it hard).

Ikuto looked a little surprised by this question, but quickly shook it off and replied, "Not really. I mean, I stopped by and visited my mom today while you were all in school but she said everything was going well."

Kairi shook his head. "No, I don't think this has anything to do with Easter. All of their previous schemes have involved hearts eggs, and while Ikuto was hurt that one time, they certainly would never kill anyone."

"Well then who else has a grudge against us?" Yaya asked, frowning at Kairi, surprisingly seriously, considering how she usually behaved. "Easter always used supernatural stuff, and they went after us."

"No, but Sanjo-kun is right. Even if they _did_ have some new plans involving us, a big business like them wouldn't risk killing someone; it would cause way to much trouble and bad publicity for them," Nagihiko explained, shaking his head slightly.

"But.. then what is it?" Amu asked, her eyes wide and fearful; if it wasn't Easter, then they really were dealing with something they had no idea about.

"Come on, you guys! We don't even know if we're going to get attacked or anything! It was probably just some creepy guy going after Rima-tan because she was home alone!" Yaya laughed, trying, and failing, to lighten the mood.

"No no, it definitely wasn't that. The killer was after her. I-" Nagihiko cut himself off at the curious looks he received.

"You what?" Ikuto asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Nagihiko was going to say, "I could feel it." but he didn't think saying something like that to the others was a good decision. Instead he shrugged and said, "It just seemed like he was."

Rima turned to look at him, meeting his eyes briefly before he turned away. She knew he had been about to say something about the "connection" to the killer, about the fact it had been "calling out to him" back at her house, but she didn't say anything. Nagihiko had saved her, and she wasn't going to make it so anyone doubted him.

If she needed to she would trust him with her life (again) and she wanted to keep it so the others would as well. He didn't the others to lose their trust in him. Not now at least.

"Well... I guess all we can do is be careful," Ikuto muttered, obviously not too happy with admitting such a thing. He glanced over at Tadase, who was staring ahead of him (or maybe at Yaya, he couldn't tell- he was probably just zoning out). "Hey, Kiddie-king, you haven't said anything about this."

"What? Oh! Oh, well, I agree; we can't really do anything about it now," he paused for a moment, biting his lip before continuing slowly, "I think we should make sure to lock our doors and windows, and watch our backs."

"Yeah, that's probably all we can do," Nagihiko muttered, glancing over at Rima unhappily. It had occurred to him that the _thing _that killed Rima's mother might come back to finish her.

But would a locked door be able to stop it?

There was a long moment of silence, which nobody was quite sure how to break.

Finally, Ikuto spoke, his tone as light and casual as if nothing out of the usual had happened. "Hey, I'm supposed to be staying with Tadase, but we could have another sleepover if you want to Amu."

Rima glared up at the smirking man as Amu let out a shriek. "No! No way! I have had enough of that to last a lifetime! My dad would flip out!"

"Aw, but your mom seemed fine with it!"

"Have you ever seen my dad? He would murder you!"

Nagihiko cut in, laughing. "No, I'm pretty sure he'd just go hide in the bathroom."

"Still! I would not like to be grounded for the rest of my life! No more hiding in my closest!"

Rima laughed. "You're right Amu, Nagihiko's the one in the closet now."

Nagihiko frowned down at the grinning blonde. "I am not gay, Rima-chan."

Kukai was kind of surprised the others could be so casual and joking right now. He had a feeling, and he wasn't sure where it had come from or if it meant anything, but it felt like things were going to get really bad really quickly. And as much as he wanted to laugh, he just felt like hiding.

Then again, whenever he had felt scared in the past he had put on a smile and laughed it off. Maybe the others were doing as he always did.

Although he usually did this for the sake of the others...

They must have been putting on this facade for themselves.

~oOo~

After the group dispersed, Kairi began to walk home with Yaya (they had been doing this for a while now, at Yaya's insistence), but was stopped as someone grabbed onto his arm.

"Can I speak to you alone for a moment?"

"Sure, but what about?" Kairi asked, a little confused; why wasn't he approached earlier, when they were all together?

"Hurry up, Kairi!" Yaya called, bouncing happily as Kairi was pulled off into a nearby alley.

"Why are we talking in an alley?" Kairi raised his eyebrows.

What was he playing at, pulling him into a darkened alley with what had just happened he day before? "It doesn't matter. We just can't be overheard."

"Overheard? By who? Yaya-senpai?"

"Well her, and... never mind that now. What I'm about to tell you is of the utmost importance, but you can't say a word of this to anybody, _especially_ not Yaya."

"What? Why?"

Kairi was ignored. "You can't speak of this again, even to me, after today. You have to pretend like this conversation never happened, no matter what happens after this, okay?"

"What? What on Earth are you talking about? You're acting really suspicious."

"Do you trust me?"

"Wha-"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course, but-"

"The you must promise not to tell."

"I don't-"

"_Please."_

Kairi froze for a moment, staring into the pleading eye before nodding slowly. "I promise."

"Okay... then don't leave Yaya's side all night."

"... excuse me?" Kairi had no idea what was going on.

"Don't leave her side. No matter what she says or does, don't leave her side."

"Are you saying she's going to be targeted next? Where did you get that from?"

"I... just please, don't leave her alone. Watch out for her. And lock the windows."

Kairi didn't know what to do; his head was filled. Was Yaya going to be attacked next? But how would _he_ know that? There was no way, unless...

Unless he was affiliated with the killer.

"How do you know she's next?" Kairi voice was shaking uncontrollably, revealing the fear he was trying so hard to hide from his expression.

"It's just a hunch."

"But-"

"Just please, don't leave her alone."

~oOo~

A/N: I had to slip in that Princess Bride reference after I included the line "As you wish." And if you haven't seen that movie before you _have_ to watch it!

Sorry I haven't updated in so long; the beginning of this story is hard for me to write (once I get a few more chapters in I'm pretty sure it'll be a lot easier). And yeah, this story is my last priority, so updates will be irregular. I will try to update at least once (hopefully twice) a month. But no, it is not on hiatus yet (just because I really want to write what happens later on in the story.)

Anyway, reviews are always appreciated. And, if I don't update this for ages again (sorry again) send me a PM telling me to get my butt to work! I need motivation!


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